EPISODE 4.
🍒 (UNPREDICTED LOVE) 🍒
(C) Judytex_Stories
Seeing Annabelle sitting amongst the new employees suddenly made Deji uneasy. He kept stealing glances at Annabelle with so many thoughts and questions running through his mind.
“What is she doing here of all places?” He asked himself.
Annabelle on the other hand was also confused. She kept wondering why she ended up in the same company where Deji and his fiancee worked.
“What’s going on ?” She wondered deeply to herself.
After a brief welcoming speech by Roseline, Deji took to the podium to carry out the orientation. He told them all the necessary things they needed to know as well as the laid down rules and regulations guiding the company.
While he was still speaking, a young man who seemed to be in the same age bracket as him, walked into the waiting room.
He was looking tall and handsome. But appeared to be the only one who wasn’t wearing a black and white outfit like every other employee in the waiting room. He was rather wearing a checked shirt on a pair of jeans trousers.
The young man walked up to Annabelle and pleaded with her to take her bag from the chair so he could sit next to her. And Annabelle did as told. After sitting down, the young man turned to her and introduced himself.
“I am Raymond and you?”
“I am Annabelle.” She responded with a bright smile.
Immediately after the orientation, all the new employees went to their duty posts as assigned by the manager. Annabelle and Raymond with a few more people were posted in the marketing unit.
A few moments after settling in her new office, one of the staff walked up to her and asked,
“You are Annabelle right?” He asked.
“Yes, I am. What can I do for you?” She asked.
“The head of the marketing team would like to speak with you in his office,” He said.
“I am sorry. I am new here and I don’t actually know my way around. So can you please lead me to him?” Annabelle asked with a broad smile.
“Why not? Sure” He agreed.
“Really? Thank you so much” Annabelle appreciated and quickly stood to her feet.
She followed the staff till they finally arrived at the office door of the head of the marketing team. Annabelle knocked and then she heard a voice from inside saying,
“Yes, come in,” the voice said.
And without further hesitation, Annabelle pushed the door open and walked in only to realize that it was Deji who sent for her.
“What is this? So the head of the marketing team was you?” Annabelle asked pointing at him in disgust.
Deji quickly stood up from his seat and walked straight to the door to ensure that it was properly locked before he returned to Annabelle and asked,
“Why did you choose to come here of all places in this town? What exactly is your mission?” He asked.
“Excuse me. What mission are you talking about? And what do you mean by why did I come here of all places? Isn’t it obvious that I am here to work, I am here to make a living for myself, and I am here to put food on my table? And I believe you don’t have a problem with that. Mr. Head of the marketing team” She said folding her arms.
“You liar. You knew for sure that I work here. Which is why you purposely came here to tell the whole world that we had a past and that you have a son for me. You are just here to ruin my plans and make life miserable for me isn’t it?” He yelled to her face.
Hearing this, Annabelle became totally confused. She kept staring curiously at him to understand what he was ranting about.
“Wait a minute,” she said trying to get what he just said. “So, you think I came here just to get back at you? Do you think I am here to ruin your relationship with your newfound love? My goodness, Deji. Is that how lowly you think of me?” She asked in uttermost disbelief.
“Then what should I call this? A coincidence or what?” He asked.
“Of Course, it’s a coincidence. Why would I come to work here just to get back at you or tell the whole world about our past? Come on, you don’t even worth it at all” Annabelle said waving him off.
“Then prove it by leaving this company this minute. I have come too far to lose everything because of you” Deji said.
“And, what is that supposed to mean? I don’t understand” Annabelle said looking lost and confused.
Then without hesitation, Deji went back to his seat and pulled out his drawer. Then he brought out his cheque note and placed it on the table.
He filled in the requirements and then, handed the cheque to Annabelle from where he sat.
“Take this open cheque and fill in any amount of your choice. You can as well take out all the money you spent on me while we were in school” Deji said.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Annabelle asked with complete shock and disbelief.
Hearing this, Deji quickly rose from his seat and walked up to Annabelle with the cheque in his hand.
“I beg you to take this cheque and leave this company and my life for good. With this cheque, you can start up something meaningful for yourself. This is me compensating you for all the things you did for me in time past” He said feeling tensed.
Hearing this, Annabelle simply burst out laughing.
“This isn’t funny Annabelle,” Deji said with a serious face.
Annabelle took the cheque from him and slowly tore it to pieces before him. After that, she poured it on Deji’s face and said,
“Keep your dirty money to yourself. I do not need your money Deji. And for your information, I am not leaving this company anytime soon. And that’s because I know the stress I went through before I could finally secure this job. And I believe I am an employee here just like you are. And that means, I have as much right as you do, to stay here for a long time except the higher-ups say otherwise. So If you want to pay me, then I suggest you start by resurrecting my dead parents to life. And then, restore my body to how it was when you first met me. Besides, I can’t recall seeing your name as one of the owners of this company. Which means, you have no right whatsoever to ask me to leave. But If you find me uncomfortable, then you can simply avoid me. Because I am here to stay just like you. Now if you will excuse me, I am done having this conversation and I would like to return to my duty post” Annabelle said clicking her tongue at him.
With that being said, she angrily barged out of his office slamming the door behind her.
“Argh….! F**k!” Deji screamed hitting his hands on his table as soon as she slammed the door behind her.
And as Annabelle stepped out of Deji’s office, she bumped into Roseline. Who started wondering if she had seen that face somewhere before.
Annabelle who couldn’t curtail her emotions, quickly found her way into the rest room where she cried to her heart’s content before returning to her duty post.
Meanwhile, back in Deji’s office, he was busy packing the pieces of the torn cheque from the floor when Roseline came knocking on his office door.
And before he could say a word, she had already pushed the door open and walked in.
“Babe, why are you sweeping the floor yourself?” She asked walking up to him.
“I mistakenly littered the floor with some pieces of paper. Don’t worry about me. I can handle this” Deji responded with a bright smile.
When he was done parking the papers from the floor, he washed his hands and returned to Roseline who was still standing waiting for him.
Walking up to her, he lifted her in his arms and placed her butt on his office table. After which he slowly kissed her neck while his hands lost their way into her thighs.
“Hey, Mr. Naughty. We are in the office remember?” She asked amidst laughter.
“You won’t blame me for always wanting to devour you whenever I set my eyes on you. And that’s because you are so sweet and your beauty is enchanting” He whispered into her ears.
“Come off it babe. Dad will like you to join us for dinner tonight” She said wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Really? I hope all is well?” He asked.
“Yeah. He just wants to introduce you to my cousin brother who just returned from the states” She said.
“Your cousin? How come I never heard of this particular cousin?” He asked.
“That’s because he spent almost all his life in the states. By the way, I think you’ve seen him this morning” She said.
“This morning? Where exactly?” He asked.
“Remember the young man that joined the new employees in the waiting room? The one who was dressed differently from the rest?” She asked.
“Oh, yes. I remember trying to question his wrong dress code but you asked me not to. So he is your cousin?” He asked.
“Yeah. He is Raymond. My cousin brother” She said.
“But why is he in the marketing unit?” He inquired.
“Raymond can be so difficult to understand sometimes. I was told he wanted to start from scratch. That way, he will get to understand the business better. And he prefers if we don’t reveal his identity to other employees yet. So they can freely associate with him without getting scared or trying to seek favors from him” She said.
“He is indeed a weird and difficult type,” Deji said with a smile.
After the day’s activities, Raymond took all the new employees out for a drink to know them better.
At first, Annabelle wanted to back out but he insisted that every one of them must tag along. And after much persuasion, she gave in and followed them to the bar after informing Keturah.
At the bar, they all had drinks and meats to their satisfaction. And while they were drinking and eating, Raymond couldn’t help but notice the sadness in Annabelle’s eyes. And how she was being cautious of the time.
Then when it got to time for individual introductions, every one of them started introducing themselves with a smile on their faces.
Not until it finally got to the turn of Annabelle who had drunk so much to ease her pains. She was seated lost in her thoughts as she kept reminiscing about the recent happenings in her life.
She was still thinking when Raymond’s tap suddenly snapped her back to reality.
“Huh?” She asked looking around in confusion.
“It’s your turn to tell us about yourself,” He said staring at her.
“Oh,” she exclaimed.
Then staring at her wristwatch, she was surprised at how much time she had wasted already. Then she turned to Raymond and pleaded.
“Please how about I do this some other time? This is already past 8″ She said staring at her wristwatch.
“Don’t you think that would be unfair to everyone who has introduced themselves already?” Raymond asked leaning back in his seat.
“In that case, how about I buy everyone a drink some other time? At least to properly introduce myself, and to make up for today’s disappointment” She said.
“That’s for them to decide,” Raymond said. Then turning to her colleagues, he asked. “What do you guys think?”
“No problem. We are always available” They chorused with excitement.
“Thank you all so much for your understanding. I owe each one of you a drink. See you tomorrow” She said quickly standing to her feet.
“How about you just tell them your name for today?” Raymond asked folding his arms.
“Okay, I am Annabelle. See you guys tomorrow” She quickly responded.
And without hesitation, she rushed out of the bar forgetting her handbag which she dropped on the floor.
Just then, Raymond got a call from his uncle (Roseline’s father) that they were already waiting for him back at home.
As soon as he ended the call, he stood up and paid for the drinks and meats. Then while he was about to leave, one of the staff raised Annabelle’s handbag and asked,
“Who amongst you owns this bag?” He asked.
“I guess it belongs to the lady that just left earlier,” one of them said.
“That’s too bad,” the young man said dropping the handbag on the table.
Hearing this, Raymond grabbed the bag from the table and said,
“It’s my fault that she dropped her bag here. So it’s only right that I return it to her” He said to them.
“Thank you,” One of the ladies said to him with a smile.
Raymond smiled back and went away with the bag.
When he stepped out of the bar, he quickly contacted Roseline’s father who quickly picked up his call and asked,
“Where are you?” He asked.
“Uncle I am on my way home. But can you please forward the number of the head of the recruitment team to me?” Raymond asked.
“Why? What do you need that for?” He asked.
“Because there’s someone I would like to meet,” He said with a smile.
